


You Colour Me Clear

by stumpyy



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crack Fic, F/M, Fluff, Iceland, Jon and Sansa Are Not Related, Meta, Sansa also writes fanfiction, Sansa goes to Harvard, Sansa is a shipper, travelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 08:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7525240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stumpyy/pseuds/stumpyy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU. </p><p>Sansa is obsessed with an epic fantasy TV Series called "The War of Conquest". Through some sort of miracle, she gets a chance to travel to Iceland to work as an extra for the upcoming season together with her friend Gilly, Gilly's boyfriend Sam and Sam's best friend, the brooding Jon Snow. </p><p>Iceland works its magic and feelings ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Colour Me Clear

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: All characters belong to George RR Martin and HBO. 
> 
> This is my first Modern AU. I got this idea like 6 hours ago and I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't actually type it out.
> 
> The title is from 'Backyard' by the amazing Of Monsters and Men.

On the surface, Sansa Stark likes everyone’s favourite hit TV-show, “The War of Conquest” as much as the next person. Only her close friends know that Sansa practically sleeps with the exact replica of Dark Sister next to her bed and has two pet hamsters named Rhaenys and Visenya. Even fewer of them know of the agony Sansa experienced when she realised she couldn’t get hamster Aegon without running the risk of having to feed another dozen of the little critters. 

The day “The War of Conquest” Facebook page announces the search for the show’s biggest fan is the day Sansa submits her entry. Although the essay is ten times as short as her average paper for her Criminal Law class, Sansa is sure that she put in ten times the effort. A picture of her cute dragon-hamsters alongside her intricate cosplay couldn’t hurt either, she thinks. 

The stakes are high as she is unlikely to have an opportunity to holiday in Iceland for a week AND get a chance to work as an extra for “The War of Conquest’s” next season ever again. This was mostly because a year ago she made a decision to stop relying on her parents for financial support given that they still had to put three of her younger siblings through school and higher education. Her parents could simply never spare the expense. 

Since Bran’s accident left him paralysed below the waist a large proportion of the family money went towards hospital bills and Sansa couldn’t find it in herself to threaten his continuous access to the best healthcare just so she can continue attending Harvard Law. Sansa worked her socks off for her scholarship and refused to break her independent streak for a holiday, no matter how much it would mean to her. 

This is why when the Judgement Day (as Sansa likes to call it) finally comes Sansa spends half the day frantically refreshing her e-mail’s inbox, dedicating the other half to double-checking the spam folder. 

But despite all her efforts the e-mail never comes and at the end of the day Sansa ends up solemnly staring at their updated Facebook page that notified all interested parties that the winner has been already chosen. The fact that the lucky fan gets to bring his 3 friends along for the ride somehow makes the disappointment even more soul-crushing. 

Sansa thinks that her life must be a joke when her friend Gilly tells her that she is going on that same holiday, double-date style, with her boyfriend Sam and his best friend. Sansa mentally scolds herself after recognising a feeling of annoyance from the fact that Gilly gets to live Sansa’s dream even though the girl can barely tell Visenya apart from Rhaenys. 

“I was incredibly surprised myself of course, who knew that his little how-to guide on that funny language that they speak will get us such an amazing experience,” Gilly confesses over a cup of coffee. Something in Sansa’s head clicks into place. 

“Wait wait wait, don’t tell me your boyfriend is Sam The Slayer?!” Sansa sounds starstruck. “He is practically a legend online, his guide to High Valyrian is extremely comprehensive.” 

It all made sense now that Sansa thought it over, she recalled Gilly mentioning that Sam was working on his PhD in Linguistics at MIT. How small the world was, after all. Sansa met Gilly last year when she became little Sam’s babysitter. Her boyfriend, Sam, always had odd working hours and Gilly worked multiple waitressing jobs with many night shifts and they were always very appreciative of Sansa’s help. She used to babysit to supplement her living expenses, but she found baby Sam so loveable that she now babysat him in exchange for lemon cakes that Gilly snuck from her workplace. 

“This is why I wanted to ask whether you can keep an eye on him for a week or so in January since you will be on winter break?” Gilly is always so grateful, “It’s ok if you have other plans, our backup plan is to get Sam’s parents involved, but well, they don’t like me much so I asked you first.”  
“Of course, Gilly, anything for you and baby Sam.” It really wasn’t a burden or anything given that Sansa left that week open precisely for the same purpose. 

Two months pass and Sansa manages to forget about the broken promise of the holiday from her dreams. Sansa almost misses Gilly’s call, too engrossed in writing for yet another Orys/ Visenya prompt. Sansa thought her favourite ship hugely underrated and felt a strong sense of duty to feed the addiction of others in the same boat. 

“Hi Sansa, em… This is slightly awkward, but we won’t need your help with little Sam after all.” There is a long pause. 

Great, Sansa thinks. Now she won’t even have the pleasure of looking at Sam with his cute chubby cheeks for that week.

“Because we want you to come with us!” 

The words are not immediately registered by Sansa’s brain and Gilly feels obliged to fill the silence.

“Well, you see, there were some certain personal complications and now the party is down to three. You have been such a gift to us and I know hoe much you like the show, this is the least we could do really.” 

“Gilly, I don’t care what you are up to right now, I am on my way to your apartment and you are not getting out of this hug anytime soon,” says Sansa as soon as she can use words again. 

January couldn’t come soon enough. Why, oh why was it only September? 

***

Upon meeting Jon Snow in Boston’s airport, Sansa cannot help but think that he is the most brooding man that she has ever met. Sam tells her not to be fooled by Jon’s appearance and that he is just as obsessed with “The War of Conquest” but Sansa still wonders why Jon smiles so little when they are about to get on a plane to fantasy geek heaven. 

He doesn’t smile even when they land in Reykjavik but Sansa can tell from the way he fidgets constantly that Jon Snow is also buzzing with excitement. 

They spend the next few hours shopping for the rest of their camping gear. The rest of the trip promises to drown them in luxury, but working as an extra on an Icelandic set was no Glamping trip, after all. Sansa doesn’t mind one bit, she experienced these sort of conditions on several occasions during her childhood when the family went camping in Canada during their visits to her father’s parents. 

Despite the fact that they were quick to buy their provisions and the short ride to Thingvellir National Park, where the filming was going to take place, by the time they get there it already looks like dusk.

The park commands a colossal atmosphere, and Sansa loses herself in beautiful panoramic vistas. In that moment she understands what it’s like to be free and alive. The cold air clashes with the warmth of her lungs, and Sansa thinks that nothing has ever made her feel so aware of the fact that she was breathing. What was even the point of breathing if you didn’t see something this breathtaking at least once? 

Today everyone has to set up their tents so everyone gets enough sleep for their early rise. The winds of winter are fast enough here to take away your breath before you could say “tent” but thankfully Jon is there to help Sansa assemble her humble abode. Everything is fine until halfway through he notices that some parts necessary to attach the tent firmly to the ground are missing. Jon looks apologetic, even though it wasn’t his fault that Sansa chose to purchase the tent that was on a 60% discount. 

“I can call Sam, I will move in with him and you can share with Gilly,” he immediately offers. 

“No, no, please don’t do that. I think we both know how special this is for them. Their love is important than my love for bargains,” Sansa jokes. “This is slightly awkward but if it’s ok with you I’d rather be the cause of inconvenience for one person rather than two. I will hitch a ride back to town as soon as filming finishes to get a new tent so I will only be intruding for a night.”

“I won’t forgive myself if you’ll have to go through all that trouble again,” Jon replies sternly. “We are only here for two nights after all and with the amount of clothes that we have to wear here just to keep relatively warm, you could hardly call this inappropriate.” The expression he wears is the closest thing to a smile that she has seen on him so far. Sansa wonders whether he is making a special effort to put her at ease. Somehow it does not surprise her that Sam’s friend would turn out to be such a gentleman. 

After they settle down after telling each other goodnight, the rumble in Sansa’s stomach announces that it has other plans, making itself known even through a dozen of insulating layers. Sansa thinks that this might possibly be the most embarrassing moment of her entire life even if only Jon is here to witness it. It must be the pinnacle of them all, even though Sansa has had a fair share of those moments in her lifetime. 

Without saying anything he pushes a sealed plastic cup of skyr and a spoon towards her side of the tent where she can easily reach it. 

“Thank you,” says Sansa, she can’t help but continue. “But please don’t go hungry on my behalf.”

“Don’t worry, I have about 11 of those left.” She thinks she can hear him chuckle. Who knew that the way to such a man’s heart was paved with pots of Icelandic yoghurt. 

“Goodnight, Jon.” Hopefully, she will able to fall asleep now.

“Goodnight, Sansa.” 

After what feels like hours of tossing and turning Sansa is irreversibly awakened by Jon’s voice. 

“Can’t sleep?”

“Neither can you, it seems. I just can’t believe tomorrow is happening.”

“I know how you feel, when Sam first told me that he won, I thought he was joking.” 

“I am sorry if this is too personal,” Sansa starts, hesitant in her line of inquiry, “but I hope whatever caused you to lose your travelling companion doesn’t stop you from enjoying yourself.” 

“It has been more than a few months, of course, I can’t help but think of Ygritte, that’s her name, but sometimes, I think, break-ups help us realise where our priorities lie.” 

He is surprisingly talkative, but this is probably the only way that they can make tomorrow come faster. 

“I am a firefighter you see, and she always said how I spent too much time on the job. So that was the main issue there, nothing too complicated really. She wanted me to be constantly around her and I wanted to guard the realms of men, so to speak.” She laughs a little at his choice of words. 

She finds that she can understand him a little. She always had a strong commitment to her education and academic success, so after an unfortunate period of dating Joffrey Daddy-Paid-For-My-Admission Lannister, Sansa found it even easier to abstain from dating altogether to focus on her degree. 

They talk for hours afterwards, and Sansa finds that it has been a long time since she has enjoyed a conversation quite this much. 

They fall asleep for real after the next goodnight. The third time really is the charm. 

In the morning Jon gallantly steps out of the tent so Sansa can change at her own leisure. When she exits the tent Sam is already up, looking incredibly excited for the day to come. After sharing some more skyr with Jon they head towards the main production blocks to transform themselves into true Northmen. 

During the day they somehow manage to get separated from Sam and Gilly so it’s just Sansa and Jon, together in this sea of people and shared experiences. Sansa curses her clumsiness when she narrowly escapes the icy water due to Jon’s life-saving dexterity. 

“You should be careful, Jon Snow, if you prove yourself even more gallant, I’ll mistake you for Aemon The Dragonknight.”

She likes the way he always laughs at her jokes. 

In the evening Sam proposes to Gilly in front of their little log fire. Gilly might not know the story of the Doom of Valyria but it is clear that she has picked up a thing or two from Sam in terms of High Valyrian. 

“Ao ynoma dīnilūks?” Asks Sam while standing on one knee in front of the love of his life. 

“That means ‘will you marry me’,” Jon explains, whispering in Sansa’s ear so he doesn’t ruin the mood. 

“Kessa,” replies Gilly with an undeniable sense of happiness. From Sam’s expression, Sansa can tell that that means yes. 

Sansa and Jon retire early to their tent so Sam and Gilly can enjoy the unforgettable beauty of their surroundings in each other’s arms without disturbances. This time, Jon and Sansa only hear one goodnight each before exhaustion takes them. 

At breakfast preceding their final day of filming, Sam says something that he should have probably mentioned much, much earlier. 

“By the way, I forgot to tell you two that because the nature of our group was slightly different before Sansa joined, we only have two rooms booked for the rest of the trip.” Sam looks at them both with a hint of guilt. 

Jon speaks before Sansa has time to answer. “I’ll take the sofa if need be.” 

Sansa does not know much about men, but because of the way Jon looks at her when he thinks she does not notice and because of the way that makes her feel, Sansa thinks that they will not need the sofa, after all. 

The day is not so different from the day before. Only now when the director tells them to run away from huge dragons in the sky Sansa holds onto Jon’s hand. 

At night Jon wakes Sansa so she can see the neon river of the Northern Lights dancing against the whole Milky Way galaxy. 

As she lies in her sleeping bag afterwards, she remembers the way Jon kissed her with a tenderness that she has never known before they met. She smiles at the irony that here in a place where the North American continental plate drifts away from its Eurasian companion at an average rate of 2.5 cm per year, Sansa’s soul has managed to find someone to move towards.

**Author's Note:**

> Although I was lucky to visit Thingvellir National Park twice, I have never actually seen the Northern Lights so my description of that wonder of nature is lacking.


End file.
